


Washington Branch (first draft)

by Angel_Vie



Series: Washington Branch [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F, M/M, Multi, Original Story - Freeform, Washington Branch, first draft
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-01-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:27:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22286356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angel_Vie/pseuds/Angel_Vie
Summary: Elijah Cydney moves to her grandparents' house to start college and to get away from her hometown. She soon finds her new town of La Conner may actually reveal some startling truths to her.
Series: Washington Branch [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1604191





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is simply the first draft of the first book of the Washington Branch trilogy I have been working on starting for a couple of years! I thought I would post it here for more public opinion on it, I will be posting the other drafts when I get to those as well. Please enjoy and comment if you want to help me edit this story! I appreciate any critiques or suggestions thank you and enjoy.

Driving to her grandparents' house was a slightly surreal experience, she had always been in the backseat during these trips to their home due to being too young to sit in the passenger seat, Kasey was always so paranoid about breaking the law. Eli drove over the bridge to the neighborhood where she would now live, by yourself away from everyone else, everyone that knew her now. She continued through the small neighborhood surrounded by trees it almost seemed like it should be more rural but at the same time was a suburb. A rural suburb, she could work with that. 

Her grandparents’ house was down a long stretch of road a bit away from her neighbors at the end of the street in an almost corner at the edge of the woods, surrounded on two sides by the forest. Pulling into the driveway she sunk back in her seat staring at the old victorian style building, her grandparents had done numerous expansions on it since it was created making it bigger than the other houses around it by an extra floor on top and a basement they had added. 

She got out of the car rousing her cat Rebel from his nap, an ironic name that quickly became permanent. She walked up the driveway and the front door on the side, fishing the front door key out of her pocket she quickly unlocked the house and stepped inside, letting the sunlight into the barren house. 

It was dusty, very dusty but that is what happens when a house stands abandoned for a couple of years. Entering she found herself in the living room, a largish room with an open floor plan to the kitchen dining room and stairs to the left of it. She walked around the couch and TV with its stand as well as two armchairs and a coffee table in the middle. She observed the china cabinet on the far wall full of old glassware she would probably have to find some use for, she felt bad just throwing it out. The dining room was simple with a wine cabinet, dining room table and four chairs surrounding it. Connected to it were the kitchen, bathroom, and stairs to the second floor. The basement if she remembered was outside and had more of a cellar door to it. After breezing through the simple kitchen with all the usual appliances and peeking in the smallish bathroom she went upstairs towards the bedrooms. 

Two guest bedrooms stood on her left as she entered the upstairs part with the library and main bedroom on the opposite side of the hall. Straight ahead was the bathroom which she discovered did have a shower bath combo so she wouldn't have to find somewhere to shower or bathe in the nearby river, she had to get over it get there. The thought made her snicker slightly. The main bedroom had been her grandparents, not wanting to face that yet she instead looked in the room near the stairs which held things she hadn't seen in some time. Old science awards cluttered a hanging shelf over an older desk with a simple bed, dresser, and bookshelf being the only other furniture in there. Her older sister Kasey’s room. The shelves were packed full of borrowed science books Kasey had moved into her room when she was younger when they would visit more often. 

She left the bedroom and went to the second guest bedroom next door to it, opening it to find the perfect little girls room, those stupid glow in the dark stars pasted to the ceiling and cute bedspread on her bed as well as a very princess-themed bookshelf and desk and a toy box. Tugging at her leather jackets sleeve she entered her old room, she forgot what an absolute nerd she was sometimes. Poking around revealed not a lot, lots of fairytale books and of course picture books. The closet was empty of clothes but had old dollhouses and various other toys too big to be put in the toy box stuffed in there as well. She quickly left the room. 

The library and attic hatches she only briefly investigated finding tons of boxes in the attic she would use to store her grandparents' old stuff until she could maybe call Kasey about it, she wasn't really sure but she would get to it when she could. 

She didn't take long to start work on the house, blasting music on her phone she began packing up anything that belonged to her grandparents that she wouldn't need and hauling them into the attic. It had started out so easy but she began to regret it the more things she carried up and more personal objects she continued to have to stash away. Breaks were needed to hold her cat who she had gotten out of the van while she was just moving stuff around the house. She regretted not bringing Kasey with her but that may have been a bad idea as well, she wasn't sure and did not want to change it, just in case.

It took nearly half the day to pack up everything of her grandparents, locking Rebel in the bathroom she began moving the small number of things she had brought inside. She really was not in the mood to make sure Rebel didn't book it. It was mostly books, clothing and personal items that had come with her, no furniture as she had enough here already. It took way less time to put the boxes in their proper rooms and put things away. Rebel ran around the house exploring once Eli had let him out, sitting on the couch she stared as the silence seemed to really sink in. Aside from her cat, the occasional house noise, and nature sounds outside she was really alone now.

She couldn't hear Rosey running around the halls getting into mischief as any four years old would with Eli’s brother in law Roh running after her to stop her from accidentally killing herself. She wouldn't be able to hear Kasey come home at night and always knock on her door to ask how her day was, she wouldn't get checked up on again now that she was out of the house. She quickly went to work to get the TV working before she had any more time to think about all that.

After fixing the TV she simply laid on the couch while some stupid Netflix show played on her ps3 (thank god she called about the wi-fi ahead on time). Holding her cat she was finally able to sleep an end this tiring first day.

The next day Eli was already restless, her first class may have been that next day but after all that driving from Ohio to Washington she was about ready to do anything to take a walk. So, leashing up Rebel she headed out to explore the neighborhood. She had gotten halfway down the street before someone called out to her.

“Miss! The lady in the leather jacket!” called an elderly woman from across the street from Eli who had been previously tending to her garden before noticing Eli. Eli a little put off to be yelled at walked over to the older woman who smiled broadly at her. “Hello! I’m terribly sorry if I startled you but I just noticed you coming out of the Cydney residence, do you live there perchance?” The old woman inquired. 

“I do actually, I just moved there yesterday,” Eli explained hoping that was all the old lady wanted to ask, the last thing Eli wanted was for this old white woman to think she was some kind of hooligan breaking into houses with her cat.

“My, that house has been empty for some time now, I remember the owners before you, so kind, their granddaughters were the sweetest little girls in the world. The oldest was ever so smart and oh the youngest was so creative! She used to play with my great-nephews all the time at the park it always made me so happy,” The old woman reminded.

“Yeah they were my grandparents I'm the youngest one, Eli,” Eli explained causing the older woman's face to light up. 

“You've grown so much! Gosh it's so strange seeing you in such dark colors, I remember you exclusively wearing so much color it was almost a sore to the eyes!” the old woman laughed. “How is your sister doing might I ask?” The woman asked anyway.

“She’s doing pretty well actually, she’s a scientist and married with a kid so she's doing okay,” Eli shortly explained. That seemed to brighten the woman up even more.

“What are you doing back in town dear?” She asked.

“I’m going to college nearby, I was given their house so I moved in there,” Was the short explanation Eli gave. The older woman nodded smiling.

“I see you're taking your kitty on a walk so I should stop pestering you. But please do stop by when you can just ask for Mrs.Paisley and I’ll be right there to see you,” 

“Thank you I'll keep that in mind, have a good morning Mrs.Paisley,”

Eli walked away and waved to Mrs.Paisley for a moment before turning back around and focusing on making a round around the block before heading home. Nothing else occurred on the walk and it was still fairly early when she got back to the house.

Spending the rest of the day productively she packed her things for school and printed out the schedule she would need to navigate herself around when she got on campus. Setting up a simple outfit as well as deciding her usual style of a band tank top, jeans, skirt, and combat boots with her leather jacket wouldn't fail her now. Best to be comfortable than dress up too much and be uncomfortable the whole time. This wasn’t the first day of kindergarten she didn't actually have to try in college now.

She had to go to the nearby town to get herself groceries which she had forgotten last minute and ended up eating dinner much later than she had expected and turning in as soon as night came. Going to the bathroom and taking out her ribbon headband which held back her afro felt great, especially since she hadn't taken it out of fear of losing it while traveling for way too long and she had forgotten last night. Running her hands through her hair she squinted at her dark form in the mirror as if it could share secrets to her on what was coming soon for her. Her glass doppelganger made no attempt to warn her and she shook her head as if disappointed in it. 

Eli was a chubby African American who was slightly shorter than average, she examined herself in her ripped up band t-shirt she had gotten at her first rock concert while idly playing with her multiple ear piercings, what would people think when they saw her? She had never been far from her hometown and the thought of being completely new, a complete stranger the next day was slightly scary yet exciting. It was a new start, no one would know her from before. She took out her contacts and grabbed her glasses from the bathroom countertop before turning off the bathroom light and heading to the main bedroom. She had practically replaced everything in that room, old mattresses and sheets freaked her out too much to bear and she was glad that on her trip out she was able to find a decent mattress shop without having to travel too far.

Turning in she simply went into her new bed and stared at the ceiling in the darkness until she became much too tired and slept to the comforting rock band playing from her phone and cat sleeping beside her on the floor. 

This could be an actual good start and Eli was kind of excited where this could go.


	2. Chapter 2

Driving to the campus was less of a nightmare then Eli expected, and she was glad for that. Her campus was small, a community college she had applied to back in Ohio. She has never been more glad for financial aid as she needed to start really looking for a job now that she was officially here, most likely somewhere in the small town of La Conner, it was right in the middle between her home and campus. 

She parked and grabbing her beat up backpack started to walk around the campus. She had come as early as she could with her schedule so she could get a better feel for the campus, having never been there before and only seen pictures choosing it mostly out of convenience. 

Walking around she found it was mostly empty allowing her to space out and just wander to her heart's content, class was a couple hours away and no one was bothering her so she simply hung out and entered the main campus building to begin her leisurely stroll. She didn't even notice the running footsteps before she was bowled over face planting on the linoleum thanking god she didn't have her glasses on for they might have shattered on the floor.

“Oh shit!” a female voice explained as a lanky figure quickly got off Eli’s back. If Eli wasn't as dazed as she was she might have started screaming at this mysterious female. She was roughly pulled into a sitting position where her eyes finally focused on a Malasyian girl extremely close to her face checking her over for any injuries.

“What the fuck?” was all Eli was able to get out coherently forgetting her fall for a moment with a face full of this girl. 

“Oh my god! I, holy shit! I had no idea! Are you okay?? Holy shit are you bleeding?!? Oh thank god it’s just my imagination but oh my god are you okay? I just wasn't paying attention I was, oh no you poor thing,” the girl rambled as Eli checked herself for any injuries and finding at most a bruise on her forehead. She went to get up but was forced to sit down by the girl but let go as she gave her a dirty look. “I'm so so sorry are you okay?” the girl asked as she began standing up as well.

“Um?? You fucking ran me over im not fine?” Eli exclaimed throwing her hands in the air. She stood up revealing herself to be much taller then Eli but still seemed to almost shrink as Eli began telling her off. “Are you trying to kill someone? Because you could have!” Eli yelled.

“Im really really sorry, let me make it up to you please!” the girl pleaded looking at Eli with a sorrowful look. Eli knew it was meant for Eli to take the bait of whatever quick fix she had but she still reluctantly nodded. “Fantastic!” The girl said clapping her hands together before grabbing a hold of Eli’s wrist and pulling her along the campus. 

“What exactly are you going to do to make it up?” Eli asked as they walked quickly across the atrium towards a couple vending machines. 

“I want to give you a personal tour of the campus! If you're new that is? I know this campus so well and I can help you out!” she said grinning at Eli and stopping in front of the vending machine. “Also, I want to give you some snacks from this, are you allergic to anything?” when Eli shook her head she excitedly said “Great!” and started punching numbers into the vending machine. Eli watched mystified as snacks began falling from the machine despite the fact she hadn't put money in. “Grab what you want!” the girl exclaimed grabbing a handful of snack foods. Eli dug her hands into the machine and grabbed as much as she could before she was hurried along down the hall. “I hacked it myself, my names Al by the way what's yours?” the girl asked happily eating the stolen skittles. 

“My name is Eli,” Eli introduced herself with a slight hint of respect in her voice for this weird tall girl that just stole from a vending machine. 

“Nice to meet you! Now, about that tour, do you need one?” Al asked excitedly shoving her snacks into her sweater pockets. Eli thought, what the hell I have time and nodded. “Fantastic! Lets go Eli!” Al said grabbing Elis hand after she was finished shoving her own snacks in her jeans and leather jacket pockets. 

Al spent most of the tour pointing out different halls Eli would never remember and talking about her classes with one seeming slightly familiar to her but assumed it was nothing. Listening the best she could to her fast rambling acquaintance. 

“Are you new here Eli? Most people take a tour before?” Al inquired.

“I just moved in a couple of days ago I didn't have the chance to look,” Eli admitted with a shrug.

“Ah, unpacking stuff? I get it, when I first came to Washington I spent like a week setting up my apartment it wasn't even funny how lazy I was!” Al laughed.

“How long have you been at the college?” Eli asked.

“Oh just a semester I got in during the summer just cause I knew there would hardly be anyone and guess what? I was right,” 

“That's pretty smart, what are you majoring in?”

“Engineering and tech stuff! I work with the IT department, well, volunteer? I want to do something with gaming like fixing old machines and stuff! What are you majoring in?” 

“Business I guess? More of an english and business degree,”

“Oh thats cool Eli! Oh hey wanna stop at the gym really fast? I want to check if my friend might be there, she’s usually around that area,”

“Sure why not,”

Al again began excitedly leading Eli to where the schools training center was and inside where Eli spotted a Chilean girl working out, she was mostly just doing stretches and the like but it still stopped Eli. She was really pretty with dyed blond hair and dark brown roots showing as if on purpose like a style. She was so caught up looking at this new girl that she had missed Al slipping away from her and running full speed at the unsuspecting girl. Before Eli could shout a word of warning the girl turned fast on her heels and caught the black haired blue in the air much to Eli’s surprise.

“Sandy that isn't fair!” Al cried being held aloft by the stronger girls grip even if it was just an inch off the ground.

“All's fair in love and war, besides you're really loud Ally,” the girl, Sandy said with a laugh as Al pouted about how her attack failed. Putting Al back on the ground Sandy noticed the gaping Eli. “Oh, hi there!” Sandy said giving Eli a wave. Al shot upward as Sandy addressed Eli, suddenly full of new energy it seemed. 

“Sandy you have to meet Eli! She just moved here and she's so cool I mean just look at that leather jacket! I mean, it's nowhere close to my cool sweater but its close,” Al said.

“You mean the turtleneck sweater you're wearing with no sleeves?” Sandy teased.

“Duh, and my shark with a tophat necklace which might be the best accessory that ever existed,” Al exclaimed proudly as the two walked back over to Eli. Eli looked at Al’s necklace and was surprised to see that it was indeed a jeweled shark wearing a top hat and bowtie and seemed to be grinning. Not the strangest necklace she had ever seen but it was up there, and she had to admit it was kinda cool.

“You're right, so she takes you on a tour or something Eli?” Sandy asked.

“Uh, yeah she is,” Eli shortly replied.

“Wanna come with Sandy? Oh! We can compare schedules just like we used to do in highschool! Maybe we're in one of the same classes that'd be fun!” Al exclaimed clapping her hands.

“Sure! Just let me change and I'll be right there,” Sandy said before hurrying off to the lockers.

They waited by the training center entrance for a bit before sandy hurried over with a duffle bag over her shoulder. She joined their tour and helped Al point stuff out and provided commentary with Al leading it to most likely be more entertaining than the actual tour Eli was sure. It ended back in the lobby with Eli at least slightly more confident in how to get around. Comparing schedules they found that Eli shared a math class with Sandy and a science class with Al.

“Oh hey doesn't Cas take that literature class?” Al asked pointing at the literature class on Eli’s schedule.

“I think so! Dang you share a class with each of us that's pretty cool Eli,” Sandy agreed.

“Who is Cas?” Eli asked.

“She’s one of our friends! She's a native american gothic girl she's really cool! You'll know her if you see her she's always dressed so fancy and has straight black hair. I think she's the only one out of us three that can really put an outfit together that isnt sports,” Al pointed to Sandy's jersey and basketball shorts as she said that, “Or look like a completely epic nerd,” Al gestured towards her sleeveless turtleneck, maxi skirt, long sleeve shirt, and graffitied on sneakers. 

“Hey, you two might really get along! She loves gothic rock and I'm sure shes listened to Pearl Jam before,” Sandy added on pointing at Eli’s Pearl Jam tank top. 

“Oh cool,” was all Eli could say.

“I can show you around our class if you want? Its gonna start soon anyway,” Sandy offered.

“Oh, sure,” Eli reluctantly agreed.

Sandy and Al parted ways as Sandy led Eli to the math class they would be sharing with Sandy promising to catch up to her if she ever needs help. Eli felt grateful for the already provided help by Sandy while they went through the class and Sandy sat next to her. Eli had caught herself being surprised at Sandy's amount of skill in math, she felt slightly ashamed of thinking just because she was an athlete she couldn't be as skilled in math like everyone else. It turned out to be an actually nice class with Sandy helping her even with her most stupid of questions, maybe this semester wouldn't be so bad after all?  



End file.
